Protestors burn an effigy of acting President and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as they demand his resignation in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Photo : AP
Colombo: Sri Lanka is all set to elect a new President on Wednesday to replace
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled abroad and resigned last week after angry protestors stormed into his palace in light of the present economic crisis in the island nation. Voting to elect Sri Lanka’s new president is currently underway. The candidate to get votes more than the halfway mark will become the President of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Presidential elections: Latest updates
– Sri Lanka Acting President
Ranil Wickremesinghe votes at the Presidential Election, in Parliament
– Here’s a ready-reckoner on how numbers tally for the Sri Lankan Presidential race. Total Number of Seats: 225; Halfway Mark : 113, Present Government: SLPP: 145, Allies: 5, Opposition: JB: 54, TNA: 10, NPP(JBB): 03, Others: 08
– Voting to elect the 8th executive president of Sri Lanka begins with Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene casting his vote.
– Voting begins for Sri Lankan Presidential election, reports Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror
Backdrop:
Ranil
Wickremesinghe, a six-time former prime minister,
Dullas Alahapperuma, SLPP dissident and former education minister and
Anura Dissanayake, the leader of the leftist People’s Liberation Front (JVP) are the main candidates for the top post. Analysts are of the view that Wickremesinghe, who is backed by the SLPP, is likely to emerge as the next President of Sri Lanka.
“Ranil is emerging as the law-and-order candidate,” Tamil MP Dharmalingam Sithadthan was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. Currently the acting President, Wickremesinghe has given extensive powers to the police and security forces as he has extended the state of emergency in light of the protests.
On Tuesday,
Sajith Premadasa withdrew from the Presidential race and extended support to Dullas Alahapperuma, a former journalist. If voted to power, Alahapperuma may nominate Premadasa as his prime minister. Anura Dissanayake, 53, with his three parliamentary seats, is the third candidate in the fray.
How does the Presidential election work?
Each Member of Parliament will rank their preferences in a secret ballot. The candidate who crosses halfway mark gets elected as the President. If no candidate gets the majority in the election, the one with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and his votes are distributed according to the second preferences given by the voters.
The candidate elected on Wednesday will continue to hold the Office of Sri Lankan President for the balance of
Rajapaksa‘s term – till November 2024. If Wickremesinghe is elected as the Sri Lankan President, Dinesh Gunawardena, 73, his schoolmate and a strong Rajapaksa loyalist is likely to be made PM.
